Maharashtra govt approves two more metro lines for Mumbai

In a major move to improve transport network in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday approved two more metro rail lines with an aggregate value of Rs 15,088 crore, linking major industrial and commercial hubs in and around the metropolis.

These will be the 5th, which will extend up to the powerloom town of Bhiwandi in Thane district, and 6th metro lines.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the nodal agency for development of the metro network in the megapolis, had proposed the construction of a 24km Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan metro-5 corridor and 14.5 km Swami Samarth Nagar-Jogeshwari-Kanjurmarg-Vikhroli metro-6.

The state cabinet approved the two elevated corridor projects, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

The 6th metro line will link the Western suburbs with their Eastern counterparts. This will be the second West-East metro corridor after the already operational Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar section, it added.

Both the approved metro corridors, designed for operating 6-coach trains, link major industrial and commercial hubs along their routes, the release said.

The 24km long and Rs 8,416 crore worth Thane-Bhiwandi Kalyan corridor will be completely elevated and have 17 stations. Each train running on the corridor is expected to clock daily ridership of around 2.29 lakh by 2021.

Thane district guardian minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who had been pressing for the Thane-Kalyan-Bhiwandi metro 5 link, thanked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for approving the project. He is Minister for Public Works Department (state PSUs).

The 17 proposed stations on this corridor are Kalyan APMC, Kalyan station, Sahajanand Chowk, Durgadi fort, Kon Gaon, Gove Gaon MIDC, Rajnouli village, Temghar, Gopal Nagar, Bhiwandi, Dhamankar Naka, Anjur Phata, Purna, Kalher, Kasheli, Balkumbh Naka and Kapurbawdi.

The project is expected to be completed within 41 months (by 2021) and the frequency of metro trains on the route will be one train every five minutes, the release said.

The metro 5 corridor will eventually connect with the metro 4 line of Wadala-Thane-Kasarwadavli and metro 11 corridor between Taloja and Kalyan.

The initial minimum fare on the route will be Rs 10 and maximum Rs 50. The project will be implemented by MMRDA.

The 14.5 km long metro 6 corridor is expected to cost Rs 6,672 crore and will have 13 stations on the route.

These stations are: Swami Samarth Nagar, Adarsh Nagar, Momin Nagar, JVLR, Shyam Nagar, Maha Kali Caves, SEEPZ village, Saki Vihar Road, Ram Baug, Powai Lake, IIT Powai, Kanjurmarg West and Vikhroli on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH).

The much needed West-East corridor will link the hitherto not connected areas like JVLR, SEEPZ, Saki Vihar Road, Powai Lake, IIT Powai and Kanjurmarg. Besides this, the metro 6 corridor will connect the S V Road, Western Express Highway, Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, L B S Road and Eastern Express Highway.

MMRDA, in its meeting in August 2015, and later the state cabinet, at its meeting held in October 2015, approved the expansion of the metro network to 118 km long elevated corridor.

The metro 6 corridor earlier was planned to link Jogeshwari-Vikhroli to Kanjurmarg. However, it was extended in the west to Swami Samarth Nagar linking metro corridor 2 and the entire western suburbs.

The 18.6 km metro 2-A route is between Dahisar East to D N Nagar in Andheri East. By linking this corridor with metro 6, the entire corridor length becomes 33 km and will be implemented by Delhi Metro Corporation. The route will have its car depot at Kanjurmarg.

Out of the total Rs 6,716 crore project cost of metro 6r, MMRDA’s share is Rs 3,195 crore and the state government’s Rs 1,820 crore. The rest, Rs 1,700 crore, will be loan component.

The metro 6 corridor will be linked with the Western and Central Railways suburban network, metro 2-A (Dahisar-D N Nagar), Metro 7 (Dahisar-Andheri), Metro 4 (Wadala-Thane-Kasarwadavli) and metro 3 (Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ) corridors, thus creating the longest metro corridor in the MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The initial minimum fare on the metro 6 route will be Rs 10 and maximum at Rs 30.